Privacy Policy

Spend Toll runs entirely on your device. We don't have a server, we don't have accounts, and we don't watch how you use the app. The short version is: we never see your data. The longer version is below.

Last updated: 2026-10-04

What's stored on your device

• The list of apps you've chosen to put behind Spend Toll's friction screen.
• Your hourly wage (used to translate $ into hours of work).
• Coin balance and transaction history (which apps you opened, what you reported spending).
• Monthly reflection submissions (your end-of-month estimate vs actual).
• App settings (Pro subscription status, Hardcore Mode cap, etc).
• Apple MetricKit diagnostic reports (crash, hang, launch and battery metrics), saved as files inside the app's own folder. They hold no personal data, they are never uploaded, and they exist so a crash can be diagnosed from a support email you send us.

This data is stored using Apple's standard on-device persistence (SwiftData + App Group UserDefaults). Settings → Your data → Reset Spend Toll wipes your setup and sends you back through onboarding. It deliberately keeps your coin balance, your purchase receipts, this month's emergency-pack count and your Pro subscription, because those are things you paid for. Deleting the app removes everything on the device.

Screen Time (Family Controls)

Spend Toll asks for Screen Time permission, because that is the only way iOS lets an app pause in-app purchases or put a screen in front of another app. What Apple hands us in return is deliberately blind: opaque tokens that stand for the apps you picked. They are not app names, not bundle IDs, and not usage history, and they cannot be read outside this app on this device.

We use them for exactly two things: to show the pause screen on the apps you chose, and to turn Apple's system-wide in-app-purchase switch on and off. That switch is device-wide, so while purchases are paused they are paused everywhere, not only in the apps you picked. That is an Apple constraint, not a choice, and it is why "Resume normal IAP" exists. Nothing about which apps you guard, or when you open them, is ever transmitted anywhere, unless you choose to email us a debug log (below), which carries counts and times but never app names.

iCloud (optional)

If you have iCloud enabled, Spend Toll syncs your coin balance and hourly wage between your devices using Apple's iCloud Key-Value Store, along with the receipt ids of coin packs you have bought (so a reinstall never credits or refunds the same pack twice), the same private mechanism Apple uses for many of its own apps. No usage history is synced, only the values needed to keep the friction tool consistent across devices. This data lives in your private iCloud account, not on any server we operate, and we have no read or write access to it. To opt out, disable iCloud or sign out of iCloud.

In-App Purchases

When you buy a Pro subscription or an emergency coin pack, the purchase goes through Apple's StoreKit. Apple processes the transaction. We receive a verification token from Apple and credit the entitlement locally. We do not see your payment method or Apple ID. Receipts are verified on device. They never reach any of our servers, because we don't have any.

Optional feedback survey

Settings includes a "Help improve Spend Toll" button that opens a Tally (tally.so) form in an in-app Safari view. The form is anonymous and optional. Tally does not receive identifying data about you from the app. If you choose to fill it out, your answers go to Tally. We receive aggregated, anonymous results.

Support email and debug log (only when you send them)

Settings has two buttons that write an email to hi@spendtoll.app. Nothing is sent until you press Send in your own mail app, and you can read or delete any line first. If no mail account is set up, the debug log opens the share sheet instead and you choose where it goes.

• Email the developer adds three lines under your message: the app version, your device model and iOS version, and your language and region setting (for example en_US).
• Share debug log fills the email with a snapshot of the app's state, so a bug can be found without a long back-and-forth: app version, device model, iOS version, time zone, Low Power Mode, Pro status, whether Screen Time and notifications are allowed, the pause state and buying-window timing, your coin balance, whether iCloud sync is on and when it last ran, your Night Rule and Hardcore settings, and for each guarded app this month's opens against its limit and whether its spending line is set or crossed, plus a short timed log of recent pause-screen events. Apps appear only as the first six characters of their opaque Apple token, never by name. Your hourly wage, the amounts you reported and your purchase history are not in it.

Live Activities & Notifications

Spend Toll uses local notifications for two things: when a buying window ends, and before a Pro free trial converts to a charge. Live Activities show the buying-window countdown on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island, and Home Screen widgets can show your spend figures. All notifications are scheduled and fired locally on your device. They never touch a remote push server, and the widgets read the same on-device data, nothing more.

Children

Spend Toll is for adult self-management. It is not designed for or directed at children under 13.

Changes

If we materially change what data the app handles, we'll update this page and increment the app version. Because we have no analytics, we can't proactively notify you, so please re-read on app updates if you want to stay current.

Contact

Questions about your data: hi@spendtoll.app. We read every email. We're one person, so the reply might come back in 24–48 hours, but it always comes back.